Published: Jun 02, 2013, 12:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 02, 2013, 12:48 PM (IST)
Tim Bresnan’s wife is due to give birth to the couple’s first first child on Monday © Getty Images
Southampton: Jun 2, 2013
England‘s Tim Bresnan has insisted the prospect of becoming a father for the first time is not proving a distraction during the one-day series with New Zealand.
Bresnan’s wife is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in Halifax, northern England, on Monday.
Yorkshire paceman Bresnan returned to England duty following elbow surgery in a five-wicket defeat by New Zealand at Lord’s on Friday.
The second match of the series is in Southampton on Sunday — the ‘wrong’ end of the country for Bresnan if his wife has an earlier than expected delivery — with the third and final One-Day International (ODI) in Nottingham on Wednesday.
“We’re being really flexible and playing it by ear. The due date is Monday. It’s going to be one of those things where it’s a very last minute decision about what happens,” said Bresnan.
“If I’m on the field, I’m not sure there’s much I can do about that. I’m just going to have to play the game out as usual and hope the labour is going to be long enough for me to get there. They’re usually 20-odd hours or so, I think, on average for the first one — and we’re kind of working towards that.”
Bresnan, who dropped a difficult catch at Lord’s on Friday to give Martin Guptill a reprieve on the way to a match-winning century, insisted he had no problems concentrating on cricket.
“I think once your mind is on the job, your mind is on the job,” the 28-year-old said. “I find it quite easy to switch on and off so the first thing I thought when I came off was ‘I can’t believe I dropped that catch, then ‘I wonder how Hannah is getting on’. Don’t print that… na, she won’t read it anyway!”
Bresnan, though, will keep a lookout on the England dressing-room, just in case he receives good news when the team are in the field.
“The manager will let me know – from the balcony. Then I’ll drop my shopping, hope I’ve bowled my 10 overs and then sprint off, jump in the car with my spikes on.”
For the time being, Bresnan was glad to be back on England duty.
” It’s always lovely to put the Three Lions on your chest and walk out in front of a packed house at Lord’s. I don’t think there’s any better feeling, really” — although he might change his mind in the next few days.
